Internationaler Neusser Sommernachtslauf, Neuss, Germany, 6 June 2010.

Men. 6k. 1 A Kem (Poland) 16:59; 3 P Wicks 17:06.

SBS Half Marathon, Christchurch, New Zealand, 6 June 2010.

Men. 1 E McRae 1:04:59.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 5 June 2010.

Men. 1 W Cockerell 16:21.

Crystal Palace parkrun 5k, 5 June 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 17:34.

Thames Hare & Hounds' Parkland 4 x 5km relay, Richmond Park, 2 June 2010.

A perfect early June night in glorious Richmond Park witnessed two auld enemies locking horns again; cementing their 120+ year friendship and rivalry the only way they know how: by trying to rip out each other’s kidneys. 

Belgrave sent a vintage quartet along for the joust.  They may only have one head of hair between them, and are so long in the tooth in running terms that they’re practically growing tusks; but some quarter-of-a-million miles worth of running has to count for something, a gnarly, never-say-die spirit for one.  And with over 40 years of club service between them, this was a band of brothers with the claret and gold flowing through their veins, albeit woven together from several different pockets of the world – such is Belgrave’s global reach.

Anyway, on to the race, and what a race it was.  Five minutes before the gun and no Mal Byansi – due to open the batting – still stuck at work.  The team manager for the night, Will Cockerell, performed surgery on the running order and switched his role as anchor man with Mal.  Will dove into his flats whilst a couple of flunkeys re-pinned a new race number to his vest.  Dash to the start and bang went the gun.

With a mind and body that was expecting to run in 45 minutes not 45 seconds, Will took a while to find his stride and was outside the top 5 for the first kilometre or so.  Eventually things started to click and his Thames ‘oppo’ Toby Pearson was caught and passed, but every second counted and it was hang on to the leader time [a fine run from Chris Peach] for Will.

At the change Peach had 28 seconds on Will who had a further 30 on Toby.  Enter Paskar Owor, licking his wounds from a disastrous Inter-counties when he failed to progress from the heats, “PO” is also in BAL action on Saturday, so it was felt appropriate to give him the easiest leg here, and cruise round [whilst also doing as much damage to Thames’ Neil Chisholm as possible].  This he did (with the day’s fastest) and we were in the lead, and a further 61 seconds to the good, 91 in all over Thames.

Stage three and the battle of the 13:42 and 14:40 5k men... the former belonging to our man the Trondheim Stallion, but the bad news is that it was 20 years ago.  So it was damage limitation time for Knut as it was a question of how much the gap would come down by at the expense of James McMullan.  James finally caught sight of Knut’s silhouette against the setting sun at the top of the long drag at 3k, and thereafter set upon his prey ferociously.  With half a mile to go it seemed as though Knut would be caught, but he dug in and handed over to the now arrived Mal with seven precious seconds to play with.

Simon Molden is not the sort of man you want chasing you after a 9-hour shift on your feet all day at work and a ‘jumpy’ knee.  They came together after half a mile and then proceeded to stay that way for the next 2¼ miles, with both men constantly trying to break the other.  It was riveting stuff, and up the ascent 600 yards from home, some daylight finally appeared at Mal’s expense.  Could Mal hang on and unleash that famous Byansi kick?  Alas no, the gap grew inch by inch till it became unmanageable and instead of kicking, Mal trotted in, totally spent, after one of his bravest ever Belgrave runs.

So there it is, the bitter sting of defeat, and yet... when it’s handed to you with that suave, Thames oily charm, in such an idyllic setting, the pain is somewhat numbed.  Congrats and thanks to our hosts for putting on a great show; occasions like this are what grassroots, club athletics is all about, as I’m sure the 64 teams, men/women/young and old that partook would agree. 

1 Thames Hare and Hounds 65:07; 2 Belgrave 65:18 (W Cockerell 16:06; P Owor 15:33; K Hegvold 17:05; M Byansi 16:34); 3 Nottingham Old Boys 66:07.

Fastest: 1 P Owor (Belgrave H) 15:33; 2 C Peach (Nottingham Old Boys) 15:38; 3 J McMullan (Thames H and H) 15:41.

BUPA London 10k, 31 May 2010.

Men. 1 M Farah (Newham &EB) 27:44; 5 P Wicks 29:08.

Women: 1 M Keitany (Kenya) 31:05; 4 G Tamirat 34:53.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 29 May 2010.

Men. 1 J Trapmore (Shaftesbury B) 16:07; 2 R Stannard 16:18; 3 W Cockerell 16:20; 4 M Trees M45 (time not known).

Greenwich Park parkrun 5k, 29 May 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 16:42.

Dorking 10 miles, 23 May 2010.

Men. 1 S Wurr (Thames H&H) 55:23; 26 W Lynch M40 1:03:37; 214 D Woodgate M40 1:22:45.

Women. 1 L Kipling (Ranelagh) 1:02:55; E Lucas 1:31:07.

South London 10k, Wimbledon Common, 23 May 2010.

Men. 1 A Robinson (Thames H&H) 35:10; 2 K Hegvold M45 36:19.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 22 May 2010.

Men. 1 C Scott (?) 17:15; 21 P Chapman 19:20.

Greenwich parkrun 5k, 22 May 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 16:44.

Heaton Park parkrun 5k, 22 May 2010.

Men. 1 P Freary 16:26.

BUPA Great Manchester Run 10k, 16 May 2010.

Men. 1 H Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 28:02; 29 D Anderson 31:00.

Richmond Half Marathon, 16 May 2010.

Women. 1 B Penty (Highgate) 1:19:10; 13 V Goodwin 1:32:50.

New South Wales Half Marathon Champs., Sydney, Australia, 16 May 2010.

Men. 1 M Dent 1:04:28; 3 R Dessaix-Chin 1:07:15.

Bushy Park parkrun, 15 May 2010.

Men. 1 W Cockerell 16:23.

Banstead Woods parkrun, 15 May 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 16:53.

Half Marathon, Geneva, 9 May 2010.

Women. 11 V Goodwin 1:29:10.

Bristol 10k inc. ERRA Champs., 9 May 2010.

Men. 1 G Muji (Kenya) 28:29; 6 P Wicks 29:16.

Women. 1 E Chelimo 32:53; 5 G Tamirate 34:12.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 8 May 2010.

Men. 1 A Mercer (Thames Turbo) 16:47; 3 K Hegvold M45 16:57.

Banstead Woods parkrun 5k, 8 May 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 16:37.

Sutton 10k, Wallington, 3 May 2010.

Men. 1 H Raidi 32:39.

Sydney:10, 10k, Sydney Australia, 3 May 2010.

Men. 1 R Dessaix-Chin 29:57.

Virgin London Marathon, 25 April 2010.

Men. 55 H Sengers 2:29:38; J Blanco 2:34:17; 130 M Byansi 2:37:31; 200 J Kelly 2:40:48; 402 W Lynch 2:48:51; 451 J Aranburu 2:50:08; 540 J Charles 2:52:16; 773, B Hurley 2:56:25; 860 M Kazimierski 2:57:36; 4850 D Woodgate 3:37:28; 6248 P Cross M50 3:46:44; 21134 C Moynihan 5:19:56.

Women. 6 S Amend 2:47:01; 62 S Murphy 3:03:38; 685 M Noel W45 3:34:51; 26774 L Lucas 4:38:21.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 24 April 2010.

Men. 1 A Robinson (Thames H&H) 16:39; 10 P Chapman 18:55.

Finsbury parkrun 5k, 24 April 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 16:40.

Newham Classic 10k, 18 April 2010.

Men. 1 B Powell (Woodford GwEL) 31:45; 2 H Raidi 32:06; 6 J Kimaiyo 34:32.

ERRA National 12-Stage Road Relay, Sutton Coldfield, 17 April 2010.

If 2009 saw absolutely everything fall perfectly into place, resulting in a club record for the course and the fastest time by any team this century, 2010 was somewhat different.

Troubles began back in March when Stephen Sharp and Nick Goolab booked warm weather training in Portugal, carefully avoiding the date of the race as shown in the UKA fixture list.  Unfortunately the UKA list was wrong and the dynamic duo’s holiday dates actually clashed with the race!   It was inconceivable that we go into the race without them so after much expensive reorganizing of flights and accommodation they were back in the team … until Iceland, having failed to shut down the UK with “cod wars” and dodgy investments, unleashed the fury of Eyjafjallajoekull on the British nation.  Now that’s an excuse that doesn’t even feature in the legendary Phil Carstairs’ tome Reasons For Not Being Available To Race… “unable to get to the event as all UK air space closed due to volcanic ash in the atmosphere”.

With our Aussies back down under, Steve Davies on his honeymoon, Jonathan Blackledge short of training and all sorts of injuries and semi-retirements affecting the rest of the crew there were some desperate phone calls still going on as the team gathered for the race; and yet wild hopes were still entertained that by some miracle our running wounded would be able to raise their game to an extraordinary level and we could make the podium for a tenth successive year.

Will Cockerell was switched to opening long stage on Friday night – and if he came in a tin, the label on the outside would read, “finished in about 28 minutes”.  We got exactly what we expected from the Cockerpillar: 28:08 and 33rd.  The field was led by Altrincham and Morpeth, both expected to come back, while among our expected rivals for medals Leeds were 23rd, AFD’s Lindsay overcame an injury out on the course to limp home 25th and Bedford were handed the task of fighting back from 41st.

Also called into the squad on Friday, Hassan Raidi gained two spots on the volatile first short stage as Notts AC took over at the head of the procession.  We were just about 2 minutes behind favourites Newham & Essex Beagles as David Anderson went into action.  Making a big impression these days as a triathlete, DA gets by on less than a half of the running he used to do but he was well excited about being back in the relay team. Ten minutes later with lungs gasping and legs burning he knew he’d gone off much too fast and was desperately scanning the horizon for the gate that marks the turning point at the far end of the course: “it must come into sight soon, it must”.  David was half a minute slower than he expected but we were up ten places and among the biggest risers of the lap.  Biggest riser by far was Bedford’s Neilson Hall who tore past 23 men.  Scots Shettleston Harriers were 18 seconds clear in the lead.

Yet another late call-up was Richard Ward, initially overlooked in spite of pipping two rivals the previous weekend in a parkrun 5k.  Back in 2004 Rich ran 14:26 at Sutton Park and although generally settling for a lower standard of fitness has now nine times worked his way into the dozen – but he won’t like his clocking for this run when it shows up in the all-time stats.  No places lost though, although some ominous gaps were opening up. 

They breed ‘em tough in Boston.  James Kelly had spent the previous few weeks working out in a swimming pool as a stress fracture had his team place in doubt.  With a week to go his doctor said that he could run on it and although it might hurt, no more damage would occur.  Of course Doc had no idea that “running” would interpreted as a 5 mile time trial followed by a burn-up in a National championship!  In fact Jim was in some pain, particularly when it came to running downhill.  As the finish line was crossed, he sank to his knees and Simon Jones was sent away.  Still we were in 21st.

Our injury problems ran deep.  Simon had been suffering for three months with a severe pain in his heel.  He too had been in the pool until he’d begun to grow fins.  He’d run in a local relay the previous week to see if he was in any sort of shape to assist the Bels and had finished that race disappointed and aching with a time of approximately 15:30 for 5k.  Again, subsequent medical advice decreed that although further running would be very uncomfortable, the injury was healing and exercise would help disperse scar tissue.  Another hero: he offered himself for a short stage and we moved up to 20th.

Now unlike the foregoing, Paskar Owor is as fit as a butcher’s dog and has had some good races during the winter, but there was no firework display for the Bels on stage 7. Paskar did gain four places but now 16th and with miracles in short supply, not to mention a few more runners to come who were not at their best, it looked as if even a top ten placing would be a struggle. We had to face the fact that we weren’t going to be able to get into the hardware.  But as dreams of a medal disappeared, so did the pressure, and spirits remained high as ‘Milesy’ set out on an unaccustomed short stage.

Mark Miles and Gemma have both been ill over the winter with Gemma still not back to running.  Milesy had managed to string together a few weeks of action and was prepared to turn out to help the team.  The result was an amazing 14:37 for 12th best on the day. Wonderful! But such were the gaps that our colours were carried forward no more than two further positions – to 14th.  This was some struggle.

One man with no problems – other than he’d really have preferred to race over the three mile circuit – was Dan Mulhare.  Dan was fourth best on a loaded stage and gained five places.  Like Mark, he too would end up as 12th best of the day but among the long stage men.  At last things were beginning to look respectable.  We were 9th but 46 seconds behind 8th and 2 minutes 47 seconds behind 7th.

Faster than most of those ahead, Mark Pollard was fourth best on stage 10.  He took the Bels to within 11 seconds of Cardiff in 8th, leaving Phil Wicks with one man in sight to pursue.  Phil quickly put the blue vested Cardiff man behind him and then worked oh! so hard to close the gap.  Fastest man in the 2009 race but this year short of training after injury, it was probably Phil's hardest ever relay run for the least gain - one place!

Swansea Harriers, in 7th, were all but two minutes up the road after Phil’s stint.  Not much Captain Neil Speaight could do about that.  Neil had had several weeks off after his recently announced retirement from track athletics and a knee injury also hampered his preparations, but in spite of a lonely run to anchor the team he became our sixth consecutive man to feature in the top ten on his stage.

A final eighth place wasn't so bad bearing everything in mind.  It was quite remarkable that among the long stages we had only two men inside the top fifty times and in the short stage list just one!  And yet there we were 8th team overall.  A texting Paul Freary summed up ... no medals but, "ten years in the top ten and the best team of the decade."  There'll be many more good days to come.

1 Newham &EB 4:09:12; 2 Tipton H 4:11:26; 3 Shettleston 4:12:01; 4 Aldershot F&D 4:12:41; 5 Leeds City 4:13:58; 6 Bristol &W 4:14:15; … 8 Belgrave 4:16:43; 71 teams started and 62 teams finished.

Belgrave: W Cockerell (team position 33, stage ranking 33, overall ranking =109) 28:08; H Raidi (31, 26, =83) 15:29; D Anderson (21, 13, =82) 27:36; R Ward (21, 27, 149) 16:12; J Kelly (21, =19, =114) 28:14; S Jones (20, 13, =77) 15:24; P Owor (16, 9, =71) 27:28; M Miles (14, 2, 12) 14:37; D Mulhare (9, 4, =12) 26:14; M Pollard (9, 4, =63) 15:18; P Wicks (8, 3, 38) 26:54; N Speaight (8, 6, 53) 15:09.

Fastest of all short stages: 1 B Raeside (Notts) 14:01; 2 J Mellor (Liverpool) 14:10; 3 B Moreau  (Aldershot F&D) 14:18 … 12 M Miles 14:37.

Fastest of all long stages: 1 M Geele (Newham &EB ) 25:37; 2 N Hall (Bedford &C) 25:59; 3 M Barnes (Altrincham) 26:02; … =12 D Mulhare 26:14.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 17 April 2010.

Men. 1 D Symons (Thames H&H) 16:50; 2 K Hegvold M45 17:03.

Reading parkrun 5k, 17 April 2010.

Men. 1 M Trees M45 16:55.

Roundshaw Downs parkrun 5k, 17 April 2010.

Men. 1 M Kazimierski 18:21.

Kingston Breakfast Run 16 miles April 2010.

Men. 1 B Wilder (Herne Hill) 1:27:24; 3 M Byansi 1:32:23.

Women. 1 S Amend 1:38:40.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 10 April 2010.

Well, it was dramatic ... Rich Stannard turned up for a jog, nursing a strained groin, and spotting Will Cockerell looking to gun him down, inwardly groaned and considered pulling out before accepting the challenge.  The Cockerpillar himself was shaking off a cold but feeling he could give Stannard a fright+; and then Wardy entered the arena, sniffing a way into the 12-stage team, while young Max Kiralyfi was keen to blow all the old codgers away.

At halfway the Cockerpillar was down in 6th while just 30 yards up was a four way tie for the lead including Kiralyfi, Stannard and Ward.

1.5k to go and 'C' moved into 5th, saw that Max was struggling and took him too.  Next up for the chop was Stannard who was overtaken with 400 to go ... and there was Wardy just 6 yards away!  But Richard Stannard didn't like being taken out one bit and roared back to go after Wardy himself. 300 to go and the latter tossed back an arrogant, imperious glance and did what he does best ... kicked like a mule.

Men. 1 J Ellis (Clapham C) 15:58; 2 R Ward 16:01; 3 R Stannard 16:03; 4 W Cockerell 16:05; 6 M Kiralyfi 16:24; 43 P Chapman 18:45.

South Manchester parkrun 5k, 3 April 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 17:02.

Banstead Woods parkrun 5k, 3 April 2010.

Men. 1 G Martin (Clapham) 18:22; 27 G Adams 21:22.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 3 April 2010.

Men. 1 unknown 16:23; 2 R Stannard 16:43.

Maidenhead 10 miles, 2 April 2010.

Men. 1 J Hutchins (Basingstoke &MH) 51:17; 29 B Hurley 56:51; 49 M Trees M45 58:43.

Wilmslow Half Marathon inc. ERRA Championship, 28 March 2010.

Men. 1 A Jones (Salford) 1:04:46; 28 W Cockerell 1:11:56.

Hyde Park 10k, 28 March 2010.

Men. 1 P Martelletti (Victoria P&TH) 32:10; 3 H Raidi 33:42; 5 J Kimaiyo 34:58.

Victoria Park 5 miles, 27 March 2010.

Men. 1 M Geele (Newham &EB) 22:45; 5 P Owor 24:43; 14 H Raidi 25:56; 26 M Byansi 26:53.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 27 March 2010.

Men. 1 N Gamester (Shaftesbury BH) 14:58; 51 R Stannard 20:14.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 27 March 2010.

Men. 1 A Robinson 16:47; 7 K Hegvold M45 17:51; 22 G Adams M40 19:45; 110 Don Anderson M50 26:20.

Reading parkrun 5k, 27 March 2010.

Men. 1 M Trees M45 17:53.

Reading Half Marathon, 21 March 2010.

Women. 1 S Partridge (Leeds) 1:12:47; 8 S Amend 1:19:22; 12 S Murphy 1:22:34.

Kingston 10k, 21 March 2010.

Men. 1 H Raidi 33:07.

Above, left to right: Hoping for a good marathon debut, James Kelly.  A sight for sore eyes, cross country international David Anderson re-enters the road running scene after becoming an elite triathlete.  Nick Goolab - a scorcher on last leg.  Only three weeks running behind him after injury and Phil Wicks ran our third fastest short stage of all time. Photos by Steve Wicks.

SEAA Men's 12-Stage Road Relay, Milton Keynes, 21 March 2010.

Guest reporter Will Cockerell writes:

Epic medal streak

Belgrave extended their medal streak in this race to 12, which appears to be some sort of club record for us in a major championship.  Our next best, it seems, was medalling either side of World War II in the National 12-stage between 1932-1949, for a streak of 11 races.

Kicking off on leg 1 was a focussed Sharpy, running his 35th consecutive road relay for the Bels, an astonishing achievement, but one feels he’s only going to really savour it in his pipe and slippers.  For now, it’s all business, fire and brimstone and he arrived at the finish muttering in disgust at his inadequacies.  He needn’t have – 5th place, 10 seconds quicker than last year with runners neatly lined up ahead for James Fairbourn to have a pop at.  James also improved a fair bit from last year and climbed us up a spot on the leaderboard.  Over to Paskar Owor who has served the cross-country section well this term, and he chased hard around the lake to bring us into the medals.

“I’d’ve got close to that!”

Richard Stannard is becoming fitter by the week and too long he has been on the cusp of our relay teams.  He’s just the sort of man you want: unflappable, cool, experienced and rippling with muscles to unnerve the opposition.  Rich’s tasty 17.18 brought us up to silver.  We had a gap over Aldershot in 3rd of 9 seconds, as the Cockerpillar set out.  His AFD opponent was Neil Phillips who placed 122 positions higher than our man at the National cross, so when Phillips stormed by after a kilometre it was damage limitation time.  He didn’t get away though and Will even nicked him back at the end.  Obviously Philips had a problem though as both times were off-colour, which had Will complaining that he’d been ‘sucker-punched into a go-slow’.

Lander Eguia and Mal Byansi were almost too close to call for the final team spot.  Lander got the call in the end by his superb turn at the Surrey county champs where he duffed up Mal by over two minutes.  Lander ran nicely to form with 18:02, to which Mal was heard to riposte in playful tone, “I’d’ve got close to that!”  Indeed he would, and his 26.09 opener for the B’s shows that Mal has run himself into fitness, but he just left it too late for this one.

Right, half-way and Bobby Boucher’s Aldershot were showing us the way by 45 seconds in silver, with Newham already long gone.  Step up Polly who is not quite at his best over the long stages, he really excels as a short-stage master-blaster (as in his memorable debut for us at Sutton Park in ’07).  But he’s tough as old boots, and had a fine duel with Steve Connor who could only extend AFD’s advantage by a mere one tick of the clock.

Return of the Animal

The animal was back!  For some this was the most pleasing sight of the day seeing the inspirational ‘Danders’ back in the claret and gold.  He has found his running again through triathlon and his relay stats before this race were played 16, won 14.  Add to that National team half-marathon and 10k titles and you have one of the most potent Belgravians of all time.  David ran very nicely here for a fine 16:54 just over a minute off his mind-boggling 15:51 from 2003.  Nine seconds had been clawed back on AFD.  What could JK do about the remaining 37?  Well he couldn’t, but only 4 seconds were leaked.  Jim has bulked up a bit since he became a marathoner and the glide has slightly gone from his stride.  That, he is learning, is the deal with the devil one must make when stepping up to the epic distance.  Since the race Jim has come down with shin splints which is a darn shame and we all hope this is a mere blip in what could be an excellent marathon career, with the 2.20 barrier hopefully negotiated several times  over the coming decade.

Stunning Trio

In a monk-like piece of self-restraint and denial, the team manager had kept our three biggest guns for last – perhaps they could do something about the nagging AFD problem.  Boy, could they ever!  Wicksy, Dan and Nicky-boy proceeded to rip 4 mins and 39 seconds out of our Hampshire friends, to turn a 41 second deficit into a 3:58 advantage.  Some going.  In fact 17 seconds were even taken out of Newham in this last quarter, but that record-breaking ship had long disappeared from view.  It was great to see Phil back – what a stunning run off very little training, long may his recovery continue.  Dan fired in an immaculate stage fastest 24:05 on the graveyard shift, and Nick was fine and dandy in isolation on anchor, with 4th fastest of the day.

Many congrats to Newham on their fine showing; with a performance like that one wonders how this could be their first ever triumph at MK.  A certain Mr Farah was a key ingredient as he relieved Keith Cullen of his long-standing course record.  Hopefully we can get closer to them at the National, we shall certainly try.  The day closed with the presentation of a large card to Alan congratulating him on his [first] 15 years as Belgrave TM.  It had details of the 54 major titles he has led us to in that time.  Musn’t grumble.

1 Newham & Essex Beagles 4:07:04 (record); 2 Belgrave H 4:12:43; 3 Aldershot, Farnham & Dist. AC 4:16:41; 4 Bedford & County AC 4:23:30; 5 Woodford Green w Essex Ladies AC 4:25:04; 6 Herne Hill H 4:27:29; 37 teams started, 28 teams finished.

Belgrave ‘A’. S Sharp 24:35 (5); J Fairbourn (4) 17:51; P Owor (3) 24:48; R Stannard (2) 17:18; W Cockerell (2) 26:15; L Eguia (3) 18:02; M Pollard (3) 25:22; D Anderson (3) 16:54; J Kelly (3) 24:58; P Wicks (2) 16:06; D Mulhare (2) 24:05; N Goolab (2) 16:29.

Belgrave ‘B’. M Byansi (21) 26:09; M Trees M45 (20) 18:23; J Kimaiyo (15) 26:32; R Norville (20) 19:41; K Hegvold M45 (21) 28:14; T Thorn (26) 22:33; M Whiting (24) 28:35; 8 R Harding M45 (13) 21:30; P Marsh M55 (26) 31:36.

Fastest short stages (5,506m): 1 M Farah (NEB) 15:46 (record); 2 P Wicks (Belgrave H) 16:06; 3 M Warmby  (Newham &EB) 16:13.

Fastest long stages (7,978m): 1 M Geele (NEB) 23:50; 2 D Mulhare (Belgrave H) 24:05; 3 M Goose (CoNAC) 24:08.

Will Cockerell reports: Some teams are assembled seamlessly, others need to be patched together by a beg, a steal and a borrow. The latter was the case on this occasion as the 2010 Southern Belles were battling against injuries to key personnel, a spate of competing races, and yes, a startling baby-boom. The Milton Keynes side for 2030 is practically writing itself.

So, to those who are currently in the wings, take your time and then come and join the party; and for those that toed the line yesterday, huge thanks and bouquets all round. Check this out for a team: the jet-setter (Vicki flying in from Geneva an hour before kick-off, and then flying straight back out); the purist race-walker Maureen; super-vet triathlete Anne; convalescing from laser eye surgery Jen; coming off a heavy cold Tilly; and then the small matter of Sam, who’d romped to a top ten finish in the Reading Half-Marathon three hours earlier. Gulp – these ponies could be cruising for a bruising.

But not a bit of it! On stage one, full of one-hit-wonders, Vicki dug in and set up the race for us. Maureen then nibbled a pip up the leaderboard for a job well done. Anne ran beautifully to take out three more, before a less than her fittest Jen leaked just a single place.

Time to wheel out the heavies. Tilly, a veteran of our teams for some 10 years, set about the opposition before somehow contriving to turn right instead of left, 2k from home, in a flagrant attempt to pad out the old training diary. After a few hundred yards of being on the road to nowhere fast, she set about correcting her error, but by the time she’d rejoined the course, some two minutes was down the 'swanny'. However, this all set up new Belle Sam Amend a treat, who hungrily devoured five of her prey before, much to her chagrin, running out of road. How she’d love to have pattered along for another hour or so.

So, there it is, a heart-warming 11th. Yes, the standard was somewhat lower this year, and big guns like Aldershot gave the race a miss almost entirely (save for honorary Belle Emily Adams, fiancée of Phil, who ran a stormer); but if our opponents can point to factors that held them back, then so, most certainly, can we. The National is next, runners are waiting hungrily in the wings, in particular the Smurph, so let’s keep this momentum going.

1 Bedford & County AC 2:00:44; 2 Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow AC 2:05:43; 3 Marshall Milton Keynes AC 2:08:15; … 11 Belgrave H 2:19:57; 25 teams started, 18 teams finished.

Belgrave: V Goodwin (19) 22:44; M Noel (18) 24:03; A Hegvold (15) 21:11; J Beecroft (16) 26:55; T Heaton (16) 24:20; S Amend (11) 20:44.

Fastest: S Morris (WSEH) 18:53; 2 E Adams (AFD) 19:08; R Gibbs (Bedford and County) 19:18.

Wimbledon Audi 10k, 14 March 2010.

Men. 1 H Raidi 33:14.

Hague Half Marathon, Netherlands, 14 March 2010.

Women. 1 P Wangui (Kenya) 1:10:36; 9 S Amend 1:18:44.

McCain World Trials and Intercounties Champs., Cofton Park, Birmingham, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 M Farah (Newham &EB) 34:41; 2 A Vernon (Hants/Aldershot F&D) 35:25; 3 M Geele (Newham &EB) 35:40; 38 P Owor (Surrey/Bel) 37:26; 53 J Kelly (Surrey/Bel) 37:46. Teams: 1 Lancs 200; 5 Surrey 419.

Women. 1 F Murray (Scot E) 27:21; 2 S Twell (Hants/Aldershot F&D) 27:30; 3 F Fullerton (Essex/Havering) 27:41; 58 S Murphy (Surrey/Bel) 30:46. Teams: 1 North East 154; 5 Surrey 286.

Cardiff parkrun 5k, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 S Davies 14:49.

Heaton parkrun 5k, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 P Freary 16:17.

Greenwich parkrun 5k, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 17:36.

Reading parkrun 5k, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 L Eguia 17:25; 2 M Trees M45 18:15.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 R Franks (St. Marys) 15:57; 2 R Stannard 16:08.

Richmond Park parkrun 5k, 13 March 2010.

Men. 1 A Vandenburg (Herc/Wimb) 16:54; 13 P Chapman 19:23.

Clapham Common 5k, 9 March 2010.

Men. 1 J Templeman (?) 17:29; 2 R Norville 18:10.

London Heathside 5 miles, Finsbury Park, 7 March 2010.

Men. 1 P Owor 25:45; 2 H Raidi 26:37.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 6 March 2010.

Men. 1 M Blomhoff (Holm) 16:30; 4 K Hegvold M45 17:41.

Bushy parkrun 5k, 6 March 2010.

Men. 1 M Skinner (Blackheath &BH) 14:46; 4 R Stannard 15:54; 9 M Trees 17:30.

Edinburgh parkrun 5k, 6 March 2010.

Men. 1 R Inglis (Lothian) 16:11; 30 P Chapman 19:13.

Goring 10k, 28 February 2010.

Men. 1 M Osbourne (Oxford Uni) 34:09; 16 M Whiting 38:14.

Women. 1 S Amend 38:52.

ECCU National Cross Country Champs., Roundhay Park, Leeds, 27 February 2010.

Men's 12k. A Vernon (Aldershot F&D) 38:01; 2 M Geele (Newham &EB) 38:10; 3 S Vernon (Stockport) 38:20; 16 D Mulhare 39:52; 41 J Kelly 40:47; 103 M Pollard 42:40; 153 J Fairbourn 43:40; 165 W Cockerell 43:52; 232 M Byansi 45:01; 290 L Eguia 45:58; 1008 R Harding M45 56:26; 1254 Don Anderson M55 1:01:44; dnf M Trees M45; 1428 finished.

Teams: 1 Aldershot F&D 182; 2 Leeds City 208; 3 Bedford & County 291; 4 Coventry Godiva 309; 5 Woodford Green wEL 390; 6 Tipton 392; 7 Belgrave 567; 107 teams closed in.

Under 20 Men's 10k. 1 N Goolab (Belgrave) 33:07; 2 J Wilkinson (Leeds City) 33:23; 3 B Norris (Notts) 33:29; 104 P Dolan 38:14; 204 finished.

Teams: 1 Warrington 62; 2  Leeds City 107; 3 Aldershot F&D 130; 16 teams closed in.

Senior Women's 8k. 1 S Twell (Aldershot F&D) 27:52; 2 S Stockton (Vale Royal) 28:07; 3 H Dean (Hallamshire) 28:12; 46 S Murphy 31:14; 543 finished.

Teams: 1 Charnwood 73; 2 Aldershot F&D 99; 3 Bristol &W 134; 61 teams closed in.

Cardiff parkrun 5k, 27 February 2010.

Men. 1 S Davies 15:06.

Banstead Woods parkrun 5k, 27 February 2010.

Men. 1 M Chapman (SLH) 16:54; 2 R Ward 17:24.

Richmond Park parkrun 5k, 27 February 2010.

Women. 1 R Holmes (Ranelagh) 20:17; E Moll 26:39.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 27 February 2010.

Men. 1 R Stannard 16:24.

Armagh 5k, 25 February 2010.

Men. 1 N McCormick (Morpeth) 13:58; 21 M Pollard 14:35; 30 J Kelly 14:45; dnf S Sharp.

Brighton Half Marathon, 21 February 2010.

Men. 1 D Wardle (Woodford Green wEL) 1:06:59; 1995 D McMillan M60 1:50:21.

Below: ... a storming run from James Fairbourn

Surrey County Cross Country Championships, Lloyd Park, 20 February 2010.

Another fine performance from Sarah Murphy; she was fourth last year and occupied the same position in 2010 but this time was much closer to the medals. Dropping back a little in mid race, Sarah rallied towards the end and closed to within one second of the bronze medal as the final crest to the finish was reached.

― v ―

Mike Trees was tipped off that he would probably be sixth scorer for the men's team and with a smile he took the hint: "Ok, I'll not go off at my normal pace then." 

One man who did start fast was Serpentine's Nick Torry, winner of the Metropolitan League the previous week.  With a mile gone the first four runners were strung out with our own Paskar Owor in fourth but at the end of the opening lap Torry, McMullen (Thames) and Rogers (Aldershot) had come together with Paskar about 6 metres off the pace.

Soon it was Rogers pushing on and then as the second circuit came to a close it was Torry stretching them out again with Paskar now in second but 10 metres adrift.  He's come back before in these circumstances (chasing Michael Coleman at Coulsdon before Christmas) so hopes were high.

All this time James Fairbourn was making waves, some 40 metres clear of Lander Eguia who was in turn putting pressure on Will Cockerell.  Herne Hill seemed to be home and dry in the team stakes but the battle for the lesser medals was much less clear cut with Hercules Wimbledon AC, Thames and ourselves all in with a shout.

"Runners in sight!"  The call rang out around the finish area - and it was indeed Paskar, now clearly ahead.  Somehow our man seemed intent on doing a fourth lap and as officials called out to put him right, Torry closed, but in the end he was safe enough.  James had maintained his high position and had proved to be a key man for us - as was Lander, just two places behind and fighting off a desperate Cockerpillar.  Mal Byansi was fifth man in and veteran Mike Trees' plan had proved well worth while for he finished strongly over the last lap and our hoped for set of medals proved to be "silvers".

Nice work!  It's been a bleak time for the men in the County Champs. - a series of seven incomplete teams being followed by 7th in 2006, and then 5th, 4th, 3rd and now 2nd. We missed Phil Wicks, winner for the past three years but troubled in 2010 by a knee injury. Second last year, James Kelly too was uncharacteristically absent, thinking ahead to the National race the following week; but Paskar's victory keeps the champion's cup in Belgrave hands and the streak now exceeds the run of Sweeney, Staines and Tadesse '95 to '97.

As the Belgrave team made their way home the fun was not over for our team manager, who managed to persuade a very obliging Herne Hill outfit to push his car in an effort to get it started.  Having won the team race they still had plenty left! 

Men's 12k. 1 P Owor (Belgrave) 40:15; 2 N Torry (Serpentine) 40:22; 3 P Rogers (Aldershot F&D) 40:38; 14 J Fairbourn 43:26; 16 L Eguia 43:41; 18 W Cockerell 43:50; 30 M Byansi 45:44; 37 M Trees M45 46:24; 58 R Norville 49:13; 108 finished.

Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 87; 2 Belgrave H 116; 3 Hercules Wimbledon AC146; 4 Thames Hare & Hounds 154; 5 Epsom & Ewell H 250; 6 South London H 274; 8 teams closed in.

Women's 8k. 1 S Morris (Windsor SE&H) 30:32; 2 L Kipling (Ranelagh H) 31:24; 3 K Ellison (Herne Hill H) 31:31; 4 S Murphy 31:32; 19 M Heaton 35:44; 68 finished.

Teams: 1 Ranelagh H 63; 2 Herne Hill H 67; 3 Thames H&H 76; 7 teams closed in, the Belgrave team did not.

Stewarts Scottish National Cross Country Champs., Callendar Park, Falkirk, 20 February 2010.

Men. 1 A Hay (Central) 37:40; 5 D Mulhare 38:25; 19 M Pollard 40:05.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 20 February 2010.

Men. 1 P Tulba (Basingstoke &MH) 16:03; 2 R Stannard 16:13.

Heaton Park parkrun 5k, 20 February 2010.

Men. 1 P Freary M40 16:35.

Banstead Woods parkrun 5k, 20 February 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 17:31.

Finsbury Park parkrun 5k, 20 February 2010.

Men. 1 J Pickett (Lon. Heathside) 18:10; 7 P Chapman 19:50.

26.2 RRC Valentine's Day 10k, 14 February 2010.

Men. 1 G Price (Shaftesbury B) 30:50; 8 M Morgan (Striders) 33:16; 21 M Webb 36:20.

Women. 1 Y Grice (Bodyworks) 36:56; 3 S Amend 37:12.

Seville Marathon, 14 February 2010.

Women. 1 D Tadesse (Ethiopia) 2:34:53; 20 V Goodwin 3:12:09.

Hampshire League, Salisbury, 13 February 2010.

Men. 1 B Moreau (Aldershot F&D) 28:29; 21 M Kiralyfi U20 31:22.

Bushy Park parkrun 5k, 13 February 2010.

Men. 1 R Stannard 16:18.

Banstead Woods parkrun 5k, 13 February 2010.

Men. 1 R Ward 17:12.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 13 February 2010.

Men. 1 J Thompson (?) 18:14; 22 P Chapman 20:02.

Alsager 5 miles, 7 February 2010.

Men. 1 N McCormick (Morpeth 23:33; 18 S Sharp 24:29; 29 S Moralee 25:27.

Sweatshop Men's Surrey CC League, Newlands Corner nr. Guildford, 6 February 2010.

1 C Smith (Herne Hill) 25:39; 2 P Rogers (Reigate Priory) 25:42; 3 J McMullen (Thames H&H) 25:53; 4 O Edwards (Shaftesbury) 26:00; 5 P Owor (Belgrave) 26:03; 6 K Quinn (Herne H) 26:09; 8 J Kelly 26:15; 31 (scoring 30) R Stannard 27:46; 35 (33) L Eguia 27:55; 44 (39) B Hurley 28:25; 47 (41) P Dolan U20 28:38; 60 (47) K Hegvold M45 29:14; 71 (53) M Trees M45 29:29; 92 (68) M Webb M40 30:23; 118 (85) R Norville 32:11; 121 A Luce M40 32:26; 137 P Marsh M55 33:58; 162 H Corbett M50 38:54.

Teams:

1 Herne Hill (1, 4, 6, 9, 15, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29) 167;

2 Thames H&H (3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 19, 22, 31, 35, 36) 188;

3 Hercules Wimbledon (11, 16, 27, 37, 43, 44, 49, 50, 56, 57) 390;

4 Belgrave (5, 8, 30, 33, 39, 41, 47, 53, 68, 85) 409;

5 Reigate Priory (2, 17, 23, 45, 51, 55, 61, 64, 70, 90) 478;

6 Ranelagh (20, 32, 42, 59, 66, 69, 71, 74, 76, 77) 586;

7 Epsom & Ewell (18, 21, 34, 40, 60, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89) 607;

8 Guildford & Godalming (14, 38, 52, 58, 62, 67, 72, 80, 82, 83) 608;

9 South London (46, 48, 54, 63, 65, 73, 75, 78, 79, 81) 662.

Final league positions: 1 Thames H&H 763; 2 Herne Hill 809; 3 Belgrave 1742; 4 Hercules Wimbledon 1948; 5 Reigate Priory 1958; 6 South London 2020; 7 Epsom & Ewell 2296; 8 Guildford & Godalming 2352; 9 Ranelagh 2492.

Surrey Women's CC League, Wimbledon Common, 6 February 2010.

1 J Bleasdale (Thames H&H) 27:16; 2 F Clark (Reigate Priory) 28:36; 3 K Ellison (Herne Hill) 29:18; 7 S Murphy 29:52; 24 T Heaton 32:12; 36 A Hegvold W40 32:42; 39 V Goodwin 32:53; 91 C Eastham 36:31.

Teams: 1 Thames H&H 61; 2 Herne Hill 96; 3 Reigate Priory 131; 4 Dulwich R 165; 5 Ranelagh H 167; 6 Belgrave 197.

Final league positions: 1 Thames H&H 395; 2 South London 534; 3 Herne Hill 569; 4 Ranelagh 607; 5 Reigate Priory 685; 6 Belgrave 851; 7 Stragglers 901; 8 Dorking &MV 982; 9 Wimbledon W 996; 10 West 4 1033.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 6 February 2010.

Men. 1 M Furber (Crawley) 16:54; 2 W Cockerell 16:56; 20 P Chapman 20:21.

British Universities Cross Country Champs., Stirling, 6 February 2010.

Men. 1 A Vernon (St Mary's) 34:32; 2 N Goolab (Birmingham) 34:58; 6 D Mulhare (Stirling) 35:17; 19 J Blackledge (Oxford Brookes) 36:14.

Scottish 4k Cross Country Champs, Glasgow, 31 January 2010.

Men. 1 D Mulhare 11:15; 6 M Pollard 11:49.

SEAA Cross Country Champs., Parliament Hill, 30 January 2010.

Men. 1 N Hall (Bedford &C) 50:57; 2 J Pepper (Enfield &H) 51:08; 3 K Heywood (Bideford) 51:39; ... 25 J Kelly 53:57; 46 P Owor 55:34; 89 W Cockerell 58:12; 133 R Stannard 59:40; 428 M Trees M45 69:14.

Teams: (unofficial) 1 Bedford &C; 2 Aldershot F&D ; 3 Woodford Green wEL.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 30 January 2010.

Men. 1 A Vandenburg (Hercules Wimb.) 17:01; 8 R Norville 19:03; 23 P Chapman 20:43; 72 D Anderson M50 24:01.

Bridges Handicap, Battersea, 26 January 2010.

Mixed. 1 Jamie Stephenson 18:02 (12th fastest); 2 Steve Rawlinson 18:36 (13); Sarah 18:49 (14); Mick 19:52 (15); Ben Hurley 13:33; (1); Ed Smith 15:27 (7); Yannis Fitsakis 15:08 (5); Helen Smethurst 16:42 (9); Irene 17:23 (11); Bruce Barton 14:48 (3); Charlie Dickinson 16:21 (8); Will Cockerell 13:42 (2); Claire Arnott 20:24 (16); Cathal 15:03 (4); Robert Norville 15:22 (6); Stephen Harrison 17:15 (10).

Garons 10k, France, 24 January 2010.

Men. 1 V Goodwin 40:16.

Middlesex CC Champs., Ruislip, 23 January 2010.

Men's 12k. 1 S Sharp 42:01.

Under 20 Men's 8k. 1 M Solomon (L Heathside) 28:03; 3 M Kiralyfi 29:09; 6 D Kiralyfi 29:46.

McCain Cross Challenge, Antrim, Ireland, 23 January 2010.

Men. 1 M Kiegen (Kenya) 27:49; 10 M Mulhare 30:01; 14 D Mulhare 30:21.

Heaton parkrun 5k, 23 January 2010.

Men. 1 A Buttery (Rossendale) 16:39; 2 P Freary M40 16:43.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 23 January 2010.

Men. 1 S Wurr (Thames H&H) 16:17; 42 P Chapman 21:36.

Bushy parkrun 5k, 23 January 2010.

Men. 1 A Robinson (Herc. Wimb) 16:12; 2 R Stannard 16:25.

KPMG Invitation Road Mile, Bermuda, 17 January 2010.

Men. 1 S Biwott (Kenya) 4:11.4; 2 N Speaight 4:12.8.

Dartford 10 miles, 17 January 2010.

Men. F Neuschwander (Germany) 51:29; 3 H Raidi 54:32.

Australian CC Champs., Brimbank Park, Victoria, 17 January 2010.

Men. 1 C Birmingham 36:50; 6 R Dessaix-Chin 37:39.

McCain UK Cross Challenge, Cardiff, 17 January 2010.

Men. 1 A Vernon (Aldershot F&D) 28:12; 14 J Kelly 29:56.

Veterans AC CC Champ, Wimbledon Common, 16 January 2010.

Men. 1 P Glynn (Hercules Wimb) 33:02; 21 C Dickenson 1-M60 37:37; 25 P Marsh 2-M55 38:10; 56 H Corbett M50 44:42.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 16 January 2010.

Men. 1 E O'Connell (Serp) 17:47; 9 S Ryan 19:10.

BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, 9 January 2010.

Men's 9k. 1 J Ebuya (Kenya) 28:41; 13 D Mulhare 31:18.

Men's 4.2k. 1 R Stevenson (New Marske) 13:20; 15 S Moralee 14:48; 18 M Pollard 15:07.

Woodbank parkrun 5k, 3 January 2010.

Men. 1 K Fowler (Staffs Moorlands) 16:54; 2 R Ward 17:27.

Lauriston/Hercules Wimb. 5 miles multi-terrain, Wimbledon Common, 2 January 2010.

1 K Quinn (HHH) 25:40; 4 W Cockerell 27:00; 7 K Hegvold M45 28:18; 29 A Hegvold W40 1-female 32:47.

Roundshaw Downs parkrun 5k, 2 January 2010.

Men. 1 M Morgan 17:30.

Wimbledon Common parkrun 5k, 2 January 2010.

Men. 1 A Robinson (Thames H&H) 17:42; 60 D Anderson M50 23:23.